Rubber band gun



April 27, 1954 a. B. MOORE RUBBER BAND GUN Filed Aug. 10, 1951 INVENTOR ,y ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 27, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RUBBER BAND GUN Billie B. Moore, Hillsboro, Tex.

Application August 10, 1951, Serial No. 241,361

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to a semi-automatic toy gun, and has for one of its objects the production of a toy gun which is provided with a simple, efficient and economical trigger assembly for di charging rubber bands and the like.

A further object of the present invention is the production of a toy gun having a trigger assembly which includes a substantially U-shaped escapement member for controlling the operation of the band releasing trigger bar, to facilitate the discharge of rubber bands upon the release of the trigger bar.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the gun;

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the gun showing the trigger mechanism in one position;

Figure 4 is a View similar to Figure 3, showing the trigger mechanism in another position;

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevational view or" the trigger bar showing a plurality of bands engaging the same, the supporting pintle being shown in transverse section;

Figure 6 is .a fragmentary top plan view of the trigger bar and supporting plates, the plates being shown partly in section;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the escapement member.

By referring to the drawing, it will be seen that 59 designates the barrel of the gun, and ii designates the stock or hand-grip. The barrel iii and stock H are connected by means of a pair of spaced longitudinally extending plates l2 and i3 which constitute the breech of the gun. The barrel preferably is curved downwardly at its inner end, as at it shown in Figure 1, to permit the projectile band or bands to flex thereover while loading the gun.

A trigger bar is pivotally mounted on a journal pin it between the plates 42 and i3, and intermediate the inner end of the barrel iii and the stock or grip H. As is shown in detail in Figure 6, the trigger bar It is spaced from the inner faces of the plates 52 and 53 to facilitate the operation of the trigger bar it and to permit the projectile bands to pass between the bar i5 and these plates when loading and firing the gun.

An escapement member ii is rockably mounted between the plates 52 and i3 upon a suitable journal pin l8 and is mounted rearwardly of the bar E5. The escapement member ll comprises a pair of forwardly extending longitudinally spaced parallel fingers such as the upper finger i9 and the lower finger 20, defining a forwardly facing substantially U-shaped member. A finger engaging hook 2! preferably is secured to the lower end of the escapement member 5! to facilitate operation. As shown, the stock or hand-grip it constitutes an abutment to limit the rearward swing of the upper end of the escapement member ll, as at 22. The barrel, stock, the side connecting plates, the trigger bar, and escapement member may be made of wood, plastic or of any suitable material and of any desired size, within the spirit of the invention.

A tension element of a suitable character such as a rubber band 23, coil spring, or similar means engages the rear end of the gun, as shown, and encircles the forward end of the upper finger E9 of the escapement member 11 to normally hold the member ll in a rearwardly inclined position in contact with the abutment 22.

As is shown in Figure '7, the escapement memher li and finger engaging hook Zi may be made in one piece, particularly when constructed of plastic or the like.

The operation of the gun is as follows:

Rubber bands of a conventional type may be used and preparatory to loading the gun, the trigger bar it is placed in the position shown in Figure 1. A band as is placed over the outer end of the barrel ill, and the other end of the band 24 is passed over the upper end of the trigger bar I 5 which extends above the plates i2 and it of the gun. The trigger bar i5 is held in a vertical position to retain the band 2Q since the lower end of the bar it abuts against the forward end of the lower finger of the escapement member IT, and the member 11 is held against the abutment 22 by the tension element 23. When further loading the gun, the trigger lever i5 is turned backwardly one-half of a turn, and. a second band 2th is placed over the end of the barrel and the reverse end of the trigger bar or lever is. The bar It is then turned backwardly another half-turn. A third band 2t is then attached to the upper end of the trigger bar it and barrel it in a similar manner as above described. The bands will engage the bar I5 in the manner shown in Figure 5. This operation may be repeated until the desired number of bands have been attached. As the bar i5 is turned, the escapement member ll will engage the bar and prevent the bar 55 from swinging forwardly to release the bands until the escapement member I1 is actuated by the finger of an operator.

To fire the gun, the operator engages the hook 2| with his finger and pulls the lower end of the escapement member I! rearwardly. The bar IE will then swing forwardly about one-fourth a turn to release the projectile band from the top of the bar I5. The reverse end of the bar l5 will abut the upper finger [9, as shown in Figure 3. Then when the escapement member I! is released, the tension member 23 will swing the escapement member I! to the position shown in Figure 4 to retain the bar l5 and the band li in a firing position. This operation is repeated until all of the bands have been fired.

It should be understood that certain detail changes in mechanical structure, design, material, as well as size, may be made within the spirit of the invention, so long as these changes fall within the scope of the appended claim. While the use of rubber bands has been stated as preferable, any suitable elastic or tension means may be employed which will perform the desired function.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A toy gun comprising a barrel, a stock and an intermediate breech, a trigger bar mounted in said breech, an escapement member rockably mounted in said breech rearwardly of said trigger bar, said escapement member having an up per and a lower forwardly extending finger, said fingers being arranged in spaced parallel relation defining a forwardly facing substantially U-shaped member having a trigger bar receiving recess between the fingers, means pivotally connecting said escapement member to said gun intermediate said fingers within said breech, said trigger bar being rotatable rearwardly end-forend for positioning its end portions to successively receive the end portions of rubber bands stretched between said trigger bar and the forward end of the gun, said trigger bar being rotatable forwardly in a step-by-step manner and alternately engaging the upper and lower fingers of the escapement member as the escapement member is rocked back and forth within the breech to successively discharge rubber bands one at .a time from said gun, the upper and lower fingers constituting alternate stops for said trigger as said escapement member is rocked back and forth, a tension element engaging said upper finger and anchored to the gun rearwardly of the escapement member, an abutment engageable by said escapement member rearwardly of said upper finger for limiting the rearward swing of the upper portion of the escapement member, and a finger engaging means for facilitating the rocking of said escapement member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS b imbei Name Date 22842512 Claytor et al. May 26, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 439,978 Great Britain Dec. 18, 1935 

